Lagos Vows to Arrest Policemen, Military Personnel Engaging in Commercial Motorcycle Operations

The Lagos State Government has issued a stern warning to uniform men flouting the State’s Transport Sector Reform Laws.

It said it is illegal for any security operative in mufti to ride commercial motorcycles on routes where Okada and tricycles have been restricted.

The pronouncement was part of the issues discussed during a security meeting held at the State House in Marina yesterday.

Governor Babajide SanwoOlu chaired the meeting, which was attended by the commanders of all security formations in the state.

Briefing the press after the meeting, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said the enforcement of the restriction order would be executed with more force to completely keep Okada and tricycles away from the restricted routes.

Members of the security council, the commissioner said, frowned at a situation in which uniform men flouted the State’s Transport Sector Reform Laws, warning security operatives, especially police officers and military personnel, to stop taking passengers on their motorcycles on restricted routes.

Omotoso said: “We have just concluded the State Security Council meeting, where we reviewed the ongoing enforcement of Okada and Keke restriction order in the six Local Government Areas. Matters concerning uniform men engaging in commercial motorcycle operation came up in our discussion and there has been an order restricting them from doing that.

“Only a uniform man who is fully kitted and who rides motorcycle as his own personal mode of transportation is allowed. If any uniform man ventures into commercial motorcycle operation or Keke, the action of such a person is illegal and such persons are going to be arrested if they are caught.”

The commissioner reiterated that the state would not relax the laws restricting Okada and tricycles on the highways, praising the residents of the state for standing firm behind the government in the ongoing enforcement of the restriction order.

Omotoso had reportedly said the State Government would be assuaging the pain being felt by residents by injecting buses of different sizes and capacities into the public transportation space to serve as alternative to Okada and Keke.

“We are using this opportunity to inform Lagosians that the palliatives promised by the Government will be coming very soon, most likely in April,” the Commissioner said.